The discoloration does look like submerged aquatic grass, but then that would indicate the canal is much shallower than water on either side of it.

That doesn't make sense, since canals are dug to facilitate boat traffic.

This calls for more review using satellite imagery taken at another time, hopefully revealing some detail to explain what's different about this canal.

The timestamp for the above image is 1/27/2015, and here we see muddier river water characteristic of the higher levels experienced during that time of year.

And it's apparent that something is amiss. What are those black dots?

Something isn't right...

If I never had my accident, possessing zero knowledge of this canal, and conducted this research, it's likely I would have avoided running the canal or at least idle to inspect what's under the surface.

Maybe I would've seen the riprap on the shoreline of the Mississippi River and assumed the discoloration was produced by shallow rocks.

We'll never know for sure, but I definitely would've prevented this accident from happening if I had done this kind of route research.

What the hell is this canal?!

If this canal is laden with rocks and made to be shallow, then why is it there in the first place?

Well, it turns out the canals (yes, there's more than one) were dug in the 1980's by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent uncontrolled overbank flow.

Since they were designed to only pass river water, and not sediment, rocks and sheet metal were installed in the canal and nearby shoreline to prevent scouring and subsequent enlargement.

This eliminated the need for future maintenance.

Why isn't this canal marked?

Ha ha ha! Don't be naive.

Anyways, if you want to see the exact coordinates for these canals, either watch the video above or visit this blog post.

Creating a Route That Safely Avoids These Underwater Hazards

The video above does a pretty good job of detailing how you can do this, but I'll break it down here, too.

Just understand that you are 100% responsible for your fishing trips!

Determine The Destination

Let's say we want to go fishing on the eastern shoreline of West Bay (Point B), and need a route that will safely get us there and back, starting from Grand Pass (Point A).

I fish more water than ever before now with the comforts of electronics, but I swear I pucker up every time I’m running in virgin water. I tend to plane off and throttle back and lift jack plate up. I’m envisioning 30 years in the future you’l be able to subscribe to a safe routes service that all boaters upload safe routes and hidden hard obstructions and low water.
30 years back I’m sure some guy was wanting 3D sonar and GPS.